Sunday, March 3, 2013

Petunia's Pies & Pastries New Store-Front.

Just another reason to get your spanky ass to Portland!

We've been watching and tasting Petunia's Pies & Pastries growth over the last couple of years. First we noticed Lisa's amazing baked creations at the Saturday farmers' market downtown, then we watched as her pastries and yummies slowly crept into local supermarkets, coffee houses and even Food Fight. Everything Lisa bakes for Petunia's is vegan and gluten-free, so I've been super happy to watch her xgfx-ness spread into Portland's nooks and crannies.

During last year's Try Vegan PDX week, Julie and I were lucky to attend a little class hosted by Lisa where we sampled and were gifted Lisa's amazing recipe for Coconut Dulce de Leche Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting. So good. Super sweet though, so not for the weak amongst us.

You can imagine how amped I was to learn Petunia's was planning to open a storefront bakery a few easy blocks from Dazee's office. To make things even more exciting, the bakery even had plans for elaborate cocktails and savory items! Dreamy lunchtime booze fests loomed on the horizon!

I can eat all of the things!

These photos are from Petunia's first soft opening on Wednesday night and from their grand opening on Friday. I went to both, 'cuz, DUH. The shop was packed with other eager scouts and the decor is even cuter than I had anticipated. Might I say it's even a bit fancy. Cupcakes are sprinkled with powdered sugar and cheesecake slices are adorned with caramel puddles. Not too shabby at all.

L) Cookie Monster Babycakes and R) Double Chocolate Babycakes

We did notice honey offered in one of the cocktails, a salad dressing and for tea, but otherwise everything seems to be vegan for the people. If you're concerned, you should definitely ask when you order, I'm hoping they will slowly transition to agave once they hear it's a concern for some of their customers.

Fanciful Turtle Cheesecake
(I'm pretty sure we were given a double serving, since this piece is such a monster).

I sampled the soup and cornbread on their soft opening and again on Friday for their Grand Opening, because I wanted to eat light so I could have P-I-E. Plus I just really love crumbling cornbread into soup, it was tastee-tastee.

I'm also super happy to hear they're currently making sandwiches with Happy Campers bread, which is my favorite commercial xgfx bread. On my next visit I plan to ditch the soup routine and explore the tempeh and vegetable sammy.

You can see all the fancy plates and delicious eats we ordered. The water even has lemon in it! This place is gonna make a really special evening hangout, and I'm stoked they're open until 11PM on Friday and Saturday. You can see their current menu offerings here.